Eyes
by Jake Nickleby
Summary: Her eyes didn't really feel like her own.


Disclaimer: All characters, events, and material related to _Tangled_ are owned by Nathan Greno, Byron Howard, and The Walt Disney Animation Studios. All characters, events, and material related to _Brave _are owned by Brenda Chapman, Pixar Animation Studios, and Walt Disney Pictures. Currently looking for Cover Art commissions.

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Testimonials for _French Braid_

Thank you to _Annabelle4.0_ for adding to your list of Favorite Stories! I also would like to thank _purplerose128 _for liking the promotional post on Tumblr! I genuinely appreciate everyone's support.

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Warning: The setting and relationship of the characters in this story is ambiguous, and is left to the reader's interpretation whether it takes place in a canonical or modern environment, or implicates a romantic relation with members of the same sex. Please take this into consideration if you are sensitive to these types of content.

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Eyes

Rapunzel stared into the mirror as she brushed her long, golden hair. Green eyes reflected back at her. Her hand slowed until the brushstrokes stopped altogether. She was in deep thought, studying every detail she could see in her bright green irises. It was something she saw so many times before that she never bothered to question it anymore. But now the world had opened up to her, and the world had more color to offer her than just green.

Setting down her brush, Rapunzel moved over to her chest full of art supplies. She carefully looked through the jars, each one filled with a pigment in every imaginable shade. Her collection of color was more than a rainbow's, but having stepped outside for a day, she discovered that not even her paint could match the true colors beyond her own room. Everything was so much more vibrant.

When Rapunzel painted, she thought she was freeing herself from the confinement of the walls that surrounded her. Now when she looked at her murals, she realized how limiting they were; limiting to only what she knew of. She couldn't do that to herself anymore, not after having a taste of what was really out there.

At a young age, Rapunzel wondered why her eyes were green while Mother Gothel's had icy blue. If her mother's eyes were blue, shouldn't hers be, too? Her pondering on this was forgotten over time, having gotten used to her green eyes, but then came the day she crawled out her window and met a new pair of blue eyes belonging to a girl with wild, red curls. It was bright and clear like water when sunlight hit the surface. The eyes- and kinship that was formed in a few short hours- reminded Rapunzel of the doubts she had when she was little.

Rapunzel imagined herself with blue eyes. It seemed fitting. Maybe not the gray blue eyes her mother have, or even the clear blue of the wild princess, but a darker blue seemed to have suited her. Picking a jar of cerulean, Rapunzel dipped in a paintbrush and dabbed it over the green irises of a self-portrait. Taking a step backwards, Rapunzel observed her work. Yes, blue eyes looked natural on her. But more natural than her own green?

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Merida held her mother's hand mirror up to her face. She blinked at her own reflection with wide eyes, as if she could find something that wasn't there before if she opened her eyes wide enough. When nothing new appeared, she set the mirror face down on the table, rolling her eyes. She never cared about what she looked like, but she always thought her eye color was never what it was supposed to be.

Her father's eyes were blue, and so were her triplet brothers', but she thought hers should have been different. Even different from her mother's brown. She wanted her eyes to be green as the forest near her home, a dark green, almost gray. It seemed more fitting to her personality. Many times over the years she has complained about this to her mother, but she always got the same reaction.

"Och, Merida, your eyes are beautiful just the way they are!"

"Oh, Mum!" Merida huffed.

The young woman could never win an argument against her mother, so she stopped pushing the matter. After a long while, she forgot all about her desire to change her eye color. She ignored the memory of when she went out exploring as a child, seeking for Will O' the Wisps in hopes of it leading to her fate of changing her eyes to its true color. Though as fate would have it, all of those childhood memories were revisited when she met a young girl with bright green eyes.

She remembered the day she ran into the maiden with golden hair and light freckles that dusted her nose. Her eyes were a brighter color than what Merida wished her eyes to be, but it was those eyes that triggered the old memory of wanting to change her blue irises. If only she found the old witch's cottage that was buried deep in the forest when she was little. Then she wouldn't have been stuck in this rut.

Sneaking out, Merida led her horse out of the stable. A ride along the countryside might clear her head, and maybe even a chance to see her new friend. She really needed someone to talk to right now, and to see those vibrant irises again. If her eyes were to remain blue, then at least she could see someone else's green eyes. Hopefully, she could still find the girl's well-hidden home.

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"Angus!" Merida whined as her horse threw her off. She had no idea what got her companion so spooked. Standing up, she dusted off her clothes. Miraculously, she was not as hurt as she could have been, and her clothes wasn't completely destroyed. All it needed was a little bit of mending. Merida looked at the window up above. Well, at least Angus threw her right where she needed to be.

"Rapunzel, Rapunzel! Let down your hair!" she sang, cupping her hands around her mouth to amplify her voice. Then she listened for a response.

"Merida? Is that you?" the familiar sweet, sing-song voice called.

"Och, who else could it be?" the red-haired maiden joked. "Can I come up?"

It was silent for longer than what was needed for a response, so Merida called again. "Rapunzel?"

"Oh! Sorry. Yes, you can come up."

Merida started scaling the stone barrier, her upper body strength made it easy for her to climb up with fluid effort. Her legs swung over the ledge, and her head was lifted to see the new mural on the wall. It was grand, as Rapunzel's paintings always were, but there was something that was different. Something out of place, something that wasn't supposed to be there. It was the eyes.

The eyes were blue.

The wild-haired girl walked across the room, her eyes never leaving the painting. She studied it closely, as if she could find some answers just by looking at it, but she found none. So she had to ask directly.

"What... is that?" she asked slowly, turning her head towards her friend.

Rapunzel had her head downcast, and she took slow, sluggish steps along the floor. Her hands were clasped behind her back as she traced her bare toe along the grooves of the floor. Merida raised her eyebrow in concern when the other girl paced around the room forlornly, saying nothing in response. Then suddenly she turned towards her friend, animatedly moving her arms all around as a whole flood of emotions started pouring out.

"I just wish I had blue eyes like you! Well, maybe not exactly like yours, but oh, you're so lucky, Merida!"

"_I'm_ lucky?" Merida questioned, staring at the golden-haired girl with wide, confused eyes. "You have the most gorgeous eyes I've ever seen! Why would you want to change it?"

"Because... everyone I know has blue eyes," Rapunzel reasoned.

"Exactly!" Merida challenged. "Why would you want to change it? Everybody else has blue eyes! You're the lucky one."

Rapunzel stared back. "I am?" she wondered, her gaze traveling to the mural.

"Of course," Merida answered. "You have the most amazing eyes I have ever seen. Don't ever want to change that."

"Oh..." Rapunzel whispered to herself. Then, after a few moments of reflection, she told Merida, "It's just... My eyes never really felt like my own."

Merida sighed. "I know. Mine never felt like me own, either. I wished I could change."

"But your eyes are so pretty!" Rapunzel bursted. "Why would you want to change it?" She gulped, realizing she repeated the other girl's important words.

A soft chuckle escaped Merida's lips. "Because everyone I know has blue eyes," she answered. "Nobody else has green eyes. Except you."

"I wouldn't want you to change," Rapunzel said softly.

"I won't if you won't," Merida replied with a satisfied grin, arms crossed over her chest.

Rapunzel glanced down at her paint supplies on the floor. She picked up a paintbrush, dipped in spring green paint, and colored over the pair of cerulean eyes. "I won't. My eyes are my own."

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End of _Eyes_

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Author's Note: Believe it or not, the idea for this story came from a t-shirt and a towel I bought from the Disney Store last year. On the t-shirt, Rapunzel has cerulean-colored eyes; on the towel, Merida has hunter green eyes. It occurred to me after I started using the purchases, that their eye color on the products were different from what's depicted in their respected films. The discontinuity bugged me for several minutes, until I realized how beautiful the color was. Then the error inspired this story, which I didn't think I would ever plan on writing, but here it is.

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14 February 2014


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